Tag Archives: google insights for search

Google appears to have added a forecast function to Insights for Search, allowing predictions of search volumes up to 12 months ahead. See the query here for “bonds”.

There is already some guidance in the Google help pages as to the background calculations involved:

Insights for Search examines the past values for the terms you’ve entered. Based on those values, it extrapolates the future values, creating a forecast of search trends for those terms.

Obviously this is a useful additional function, however as the prediction model doesn’t take into account the context of the search term, or account for any business cycles that may be driving a specific market, these numbers may prove to be misleading at best.

There could be some interesting applications of this, certainly in terms of understanding Google’s view on the direction of either particular brands or keyword markets. Beyond that it will be interesting to track over the next few months the accuracy of any predictions made.

I have just been researching social media marketing for a client presentation, and wanted to share some figures gleaned from Google Insights for Search which really highlight the growth in interest in social media marketing over the last few years.

Since 2007 searches for “social media marketing” have increased by 900%. Even from early 2008, searches have tripled.

Searches for "social media marketing" 2007 - 2009

These are huge increases, and really show the level of interest there is out there in and around social media marketing strategy.

Looking at the growth drivers from a geographical perspective shows the key early adopters were the US and UK alongside a cluster of other developed economies.

Worldwide searches for "social media marketing" 2007

Significantly, India is the only BRIC country represented back in early 2007.

Moving to 2009, we can see the remainder of BRIC coming on board alongside other core developed economies in Japan and Sweden amongst others.

Worldwide searches for "social media marketing" 2009

There is also a marked increase in interest around social media marketing from India, which demands further investigation.

Digging deeper, the majority of growth is driven by Delhi and India’s richest state Maharashtra, specifically Mumbai.

Searches in India for "social media marketing"

The social media marketing scene in India is clearly heating up, with digital advertising agencies, PR practitioners, and prominent bloggers offering a range of social media services. According to reports there are up to 25-30 serious social media players operating in the Indian market, and working across popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. It would be interesting to hear your views on why it is that India is adopting social media, and social media marketing, so quickly.

My thoughts are that in a world in which the internet is primarily a mobile medium, the services that matter are social ones. Mobile internet access is primarily about social networking, something true both in India and elsewhere. So in India, in effect, the marketing is going where the people are.